In Honor of Dr. Christine Goertz

Few people have had as productive a past couple of years as our own Dr. Christine Goertz. Not only does she manage the full gamut of Palmer College research, but she also plays a significant role in the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute, or PCORI, in Washington, DC. With the publication last week of the TACT study, which has received national attention, I thought it might be interesting to see what Dr. Goertz has published recently.

1.      Lamas GA, Goertz C, Boineau R, Mark DB, Rozema T, Nahin RL, Lindblad L, Lewis EF, Drisko J, Lee KL, TACT Investigators. Effect of disodium EDTA chelation regimen on cardiovascular events in patients with previous myocardial infarction: the TACT randomized trial.  JAMA 201;309(12):1241-50. doi: 10.1001/jama.2013.2107.

2.      Goertz CM, Salsbury SA, Vining RD, Long CR, Andresen AA, Jones ME, Lyons KJ, Hondras MA, Killinger LZ, Wolinsky FD, Wallace RB. Collaborative Care for Older Adults with low back pain by family medicine physicians and doctors of chiropractic (COCOA): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials 201;14:18. doi: 10.1186/1745-6215-14-18.

3.      Goertz C, Marriott BP, Finch MD, Bray RM, Williams TV, Hourani LL, Hadden LS, Colleran HL, Jonas WB. Military report more complementary and alternative medicine use than civilians. J Altern Complement Med 2013 Jan 16

4.      Martin BI, Gerkovich MM, Deyo RA, Sherman KJ, Cherkin DC, Lind BK, Goertz CM, Lafferty WE. The association of complementary and alternative medicine use and health care expenditures for back and neck problems. Med Care 2012;50(12):1029-36. doi: 10.1097/MLR.0b013e318269e0b2.

5.      Goertz CM, Long CR, Hondras MA, Petri R, Delgado R, Lawrence DJ, Owens EF, Meeker WC. Adding chiropractic manipulative therapy to standard medical care for patients with acute low back pain: the results of a pragmatic randomized comparative effectiveness study. Spine 2012 Oct 10

So, in this mix from the past year, there is a major multi-center trail of EDTA involving 1708 patients in 300+ centers, a protocol for an RCT, a health services research paper looking at the use of CAM in the military, an actual RCT set in a military setting, and an economic analysis. Few people are that much of a polymath, and this is one of the broadest pallets in chiropractic research our profession has ever seen.

We should all be proud. It’s good work with significant implications for our profession. Exciting to see!